Catching up.
Yes, I am still here, even though I haven't been posting. I've even been reading still; I just haven't felt much like writing these books up. I've been reading literary theory and analyses of science fiction and, quite honestly, it's not terribly interesting. So, those of you who actually read my summaries, you're not missing much.
Here's what I've read recently, though:
Darko Suvin, Metamorphoses of Science Fiction (1979)
Tom Moylan, Demand the Impossible: Science Fiction and the Utopian Imagination (1986)
Science Fiction, Critical Frontiers, edited by Karen Sayer and John Moore (2000)
Future Females, The Next Generation: New Voices and Velocities in Feminist Science Fiction Criticism, edited by Marleen Barr (2000)
And next I'll read:
Justine Larbalestier, The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction (2002)
Speculations on Speculation: Theories of Science Fiction, edited by James Gunn and Matthew Candelaria (2005)
Frederic Jameson, Archaeologies of the Future (2005)
Maybe once I've finished all of these, I'll write an entry with some very short summaries of each. But maybe not.
I've also not been writing as much because school's started and I've been trying to get back in the swing of teaching classes. I've only had my first day of classes so far and man I'd forgotten how much energy and time just showing up and teaching takes. I'm going to have to completely revamp my reading/studying schedule to accommodate teaching. I'm kind of pissed about that because I was making such good progress when I wasn't teaching.
In the breaks between reading and prepping for classes, I'm working on developing a paper on teaching SF to turn in for a course and to submit to a journal this fall, too. So if anyone wants to talk about that, I'm all ears.
Finally, I've been cleaning my apartment pretty thoroughly over the last couple of days, and as I've done so I've been getting rid of things and trying to figure out what else I can get rid of and in what ways I might want to revamp my furniture and decor. It's been pretty static for a while. For instance, my bed (including headboard, mattress, box springs, and comforter) dates from high school! I think it's time for--at the very least--a new mattress set. I'll keep the headboard because I like it (it has built-in bookshelves), though, and I haven't decided yet about the comforter. I'm also going to try to sell my big wardrobe since I don't have much use for it, I want the wall space it's taking up for photography and art, and I certainly don't want to have to move it again eventually (Zachary and I nearly killed ourselves moving it in here). I've also been collecting various pictures, works of art by my brother, and photography (some by me and some by other, more professional, photographers) that I want to display. Right now, almost none of it is on the wall (I mean, I've only been living here a year and a half or so!). Whenever I manage to get rid of the wardrobe I'll figure out where to hang stuff.
I need to address two other major problems in apartment organization: 1) my closet and 2) my kitchen. My closet is so full I can barely get in it and that's not just because I have more clothes than I need. It's also because I have unpacked boxes in there that, if I would just unpack them and put that stuff into my filing cabinets (also in the closet) I would have about twice as much free space. In terms of the kitchen, I just have too much stuff. I have a very small kitchen and way more dishes than any single individual needs. So I need to shrink my collection of plates, cups, and wine glasses. I'll probably just take that stuff and donate it to the women's shelter. After all, there's nothing wrong with any of it; it just takes up too much of my precious space.
Here's what I've read recently, though:
Darko Suvin, Metamorphoses of Science Fiction (1979)
Tom Moylan, Demand the Impossible: Science Fiction and the Utopian Imagination (1986)
Science Fiction, Critical Frontiers, edited by Karen Sayer and John Moore (2000)
Future Females, The Next Generation: New Voices and Velocities in Feminist Science Fiction Criticism, edited by Marleen Barr (2000)
And next I'll read:
Justine Larbalestier, The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction (2002)
Speculations on Speculation: Theories of Science Fiction, edited by James Gunn and Matthew Candelaria (2005)
Frederic Jameson, Archaeologies of the Future (2005)
Maybe once I've finished all of these, I'll write an entry with some very short summaries of each. But maybe not.
I've also not been writing as much because school's started and I've been trying to get back in the swing of teaching classes. I've only had my first day of classes so far and man I'd forgotten how much energy and time just showing up and teaching takes. I'm going to have to completely revamp my reading/studying schedule to accommodate teaching. I'm kind of pissed about that because I was making such good progress when I wasn't teaching.
In the breaks between reading and prepping for classes, I'm working on developing a paper on teaching SF to turn in for a course and to submit to a journal this fall, too. So if anyone wants to talk about that, I'm all ears.
Finally, I've been cleaning my apartment pretty thoroughly over the last couple of days, and as I've done so I've been getting rid of things and trying to figure out what else I can get rid of and in what ways I might want to revamp my furniture and decor. It's been pretty static for a while. For instance, my bed (including headboard, mattress, box springs, and comforter) dates from high school! I think it's time for--at the very least--a new mattress set. I'll keep the headboard because I like it (it has built-in bookshelves), though, and I haven't decided yet about the comforter. I'm also going to try to sell my big wardrobe since I don't have much use for it, I want the wall space it's taking up for photography and art, and I certainly don't want to have to move it again eventually (Zachary and I nearly killed ourselves moving it in here). I've also been collecting various pictures, works of art by my brother, and photography (some by me and some by other, more professional, photographers) that I want to display. Right now, almost none of it is on the wall (I mean, I've only been living here a year and a half or so!). Whenever I manage to get rid of the wardrobe I'll figure out where to hang stuff.
I need to address two other major problems in apartment organization: 1) my closet and 2) my kitchen. My closet is so full I can barely get in it and that's not just because I have more clothes than I need. It's also because I have unpacked boxes in there that, if I would just unpack them and put that stuff into my filing cabinets (also in the closet) I would have about twice as much free space. In terms of the kitchen, I just have too much stuff. I have a very small kitchen and way more dishes than any single individual needs. So I need to shrink my collection of plates, cups, and wine glasses. I'll probably just take that stuff and donate it to the women's shelter. After all, there's nothing wrong with any of it; it just takes up too much of my precious space.